Big League Stew

Vin Scully asks: ‘What in the world is hashtag?’

That's the question, isn't it? Legendary Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, who makes everything sound better, especially baseball, also can make the word "hashtag" sound like some kind of illegal activity. He was curious about hashtagging, along with a new television channel called "Dog TV" that a satellite company is starting, so he worked both constructs into the broadcast of the Dodgers-San Diego Padres game Wednesday night. Naturally.

Scully is like a person who was born in, say, 1875, and lived until 1970. They came in before the telephone was invented and went out after men had walked on the moon. (Yes they did, Carl Everett.)

Not that we're about to lose Vin, who is 85 years old but still sharp as a tack. Yet, some of the modern marvels (and silly stuff) we take for granted just sort of pass people of his generation by. For example: the social media microblogging website known as Twitter, which has a feature called hashtagging, where one adds a "#" to a word that "tags" the post and makes it easier to find in a search. Tags are used for polls, or for dumber reasons that will only confuse you and Vin.

So, after Scully did his duty in announcing an online poll that asked fans if they preferred watching games in a pitcher's park or a hitter's park — topical, considering the Dodgers were playing at Petco Park, which was just reconfigured so it wouldn't play so big — he went off on a tangent.

Vin goes:

"Tweet #pitcherspark or tweet #hitterspark. Tune in and we'll look at the results later on.

"Can I ask you an honest question between you and me? What in the world is 'hashtag'?"

His incredulity didn't stop there.

"There are so many things in this world that I don't understand, it would fill the Library of Congress. And I just read an item in the paper today — I know you will be thrilled about this — DirecTV will have a channel called Dog TV. That's right, D-O-G, Dog TV. It is to comfort pets when the owner is not at home. Dog TV [laughs].

"Venable, Denorfia and Alonso. How do you sell a sponsor to a pet? (Venable swings and misses.) One and two. You see what can occupy your mind when you're on the road. (Camera pans around for 'Petco Park' signs.) Yeah, Petco Park. Do you have a smart pet? Boy, that is a new one. And it's no joke; I'm deadly serious. Dog TV. Now, does that mean cats can't watch?"